The Science of Good Cooking (Cook’s Illustrated Cookbooks)

THE REVOLUTIONARY BOOK THATBRINGS SCIENCE TO THE STOVEGreat cooks seem to operate on intuition. Watch one at work and you might think he or she must have a sixth sense that switches on in the kitchen. But great cooks aren t psychic. They simply understand the fundamental principles of cooking the unspoken rules that guide

THE REVOLUTIONARY BOOK THATBRINGS SCIENCE TO THE STOVEGreat cooks seem to operate on intuition. Watch one at work and you might think he or she must have a sixth sense that switches on in the kitchen. But great cooks aren t psychic. They simply understand the fundamental principles of cooking the unspoken rules that guide their every move in the kitchen. What s behind these principles? Science.At America s Test Kitchen, we know something about that. The team at Cook s Illustrated has spent the past 20 years investigating every facet and every detail associated with home cooking through tens of thousands of kitchen tests. In The Science of Good Cooking, we distill the past two decades of this test kitchen work into 50 basic cooking concepts, ones that every home cook should know.These concepts sound suspiciously simple: Gentle Heat Retains Moisture. Salty Marinades Work Best. Starch Helps Cheese Melt Nicely. Sugar Changes Sweetness and Texture. It turns out that these ideas are not only easy to understand but also easy to master. And don t worry there is no molecular gastronomy, liquid nitrogen, or fancy equipment involved. As always, our mission is squarely focused on great home cooking.In addition to explaining how food science works (and why you should care), The Science of Good Cooking shows you the science. This book brings you into the test kitchen with 50 unique (and fun) experiments engineered to illustrate (and illuminate) the science at work. The experiments demonstrate why adding fat to your eggs will make the perfect tender omelet, why grinding your own meat will make the ultimate burger, and why you should have patience before carving your roast.And because no concept is complete without recipes, The Science of Good Cooking includes more than 400 classic Cook s Illustrated recipes that take the science to the stove, putting the principles to work. The book offers a fresh perspective on everything from roasting a chicken to baking chocolate chip cookies. These are the fundamental recipes home cooks struggle to get right. And when these recipes are coupled with the simple science explaining how and why they work, the results are illuminating.

Comments

Pokinsays:

A must-read to improve the results of your food! Having relied on Cooks Illustrated recommendations for many of my favourite kitchen tools, buying this book was a no brainer. Needless to say I had high expectations going in, and this book did not disappoint.I’m an avid cook, and while I’ve had great success with certain types of food, I’ve been frustrated by inconsistent results in others. (I can’t seem to get a consistently moist pot-roast — reason: my cooking temperature was probably too high; wrong cut of meat + oven braising is better than stovetop since it heats more evenly in more directions)The Science of Good Cooking breaks down why food cooks a certain way, and which techniques are best for what purpose. The book is organized into 50 concepts with recipes reinforcing each concept. There’s a section called “why this works” following each recipe, which breaks down the science behind each step — for instance why use a certain type of marinade, cooking technique, take extra steps, etc to achieve a…

A Mad Scientist Yes, I have a BS in food technology with a lot of chemistry, biochemistry, bacteriology, etc. background. So I found this book another interesting treatise on food science. Personally, I love it. My wife, with a BS in elementary education, 2 sons with accounting and finance degrees, and a mechanical engineering daughter, I am probably the only one in the family to love this book. If you want to cook, and want to know WHY things happen during the cooking process, this is a great book. The recipes in each section emphasize each subject.If you like Alton Brown, Shirley Corriher, etc., then this book is for you.If you watch America’s Test Kitchen or Cook’s Country on TV, and like the science section, buy to book. To me, the recipes may be redundant (400 recipes for 50 sections).This is a great book if you want to take “Food Science 101” at home. Read each section carefully, then maybe try a suggested recipe to understand the chapter subject. If you want to know…